Roman and Freya extinguished the campfire and followed Brando out. Both of them had guessed that Brando's transformation might be related to the blinding black light from earlier, but they did not even know how that black light had appeared. Only our future Merchant's Daughter had seen the Soul Crystal in Brando's hand, and she also knew that he possessed an extremely mysterious ring that could summon the wind to kill his enemies.
Come to think of it, he had given her a ring as well. Roman especially liked the sharply contrasting black-and-white spiderweb pattern on it. In Buchi—or rather, in the entire world of light—the style of using spiderwebs as decoration was uncommon. But the rarer it was, the more she treasured it.
She simply did not know whether that ring possessed the same kind of magic.
These were all aspects of Brando she knew nothing about. The future Merchant's Daughter stared at the young man's back as he stood in the valley at dawn, filled with curiosity. She merely felt that being with Brando made everything seem magical and shrouded in mystery.
"Brando, what happened?" Compared to Roman's unconcerned attitude of simply following Brando wherever he went, Freya was much more serious. The Ponytail Girl believed it was her responsibility to share some of Brando's worries.
"Nothing major, but we'd better leave this place as soon as possible." Brando suppressed the unease in his heart as he spoke. With a clang, he drew the Elven Treasure Sword, and a ghostly gleam appeared on the barren rock. To be honest, he really did not know how to explain the reaction caused by the absorption of magic power to Freya and Roman—
In general, it was a form of spontaneous plundering by high-level magical items of low-level free energy. But magical items below the 40 Oz power level rarely reacted with one another like this. Regardless, he had no way to explain these technical terms clearly to Freya and Roman in such a short time.
Freya looked at him worriedly but did not ask further.
Brando observed the valley below. There was no movement, but he still lacked any sense of security. He could only have Freya put on her armor while telling Roman to prepare the grappling hook. Freya was already wearing combat clothing, so she could simply take out the pieces of the Wind Empress Half-Plate and put them on. However, she had never received professional training, and there was no point expecting her to do it quickly.
Roman stood to one side, nervous yet faintly excited. She wanted to help but was afraid Freya would scold her. Although she and Freya were close friends, the Ponytail Girl showed no mercy when she lost her temper. Besides, Roman knew that if she went over, she would only make things worse.
Brando was not in a rush for the moment, but he was more worried that the intense ripples of magic power would trigger a riot among the monsters in the valley. That would be a real headache.
Thinking of this, he could not help raising the card in his hand, secretly alarmed. He had never expected that the most important treasure among Girende's collection would not be the Gleaming Thorn, but this card. What did a magical item above the 40 Oz power level represent? He remembered that he had not seen one for the first time until his fifth year in the game.
It had to be known that throughout the long Chaos Era, humans and Elven mages had been unable to solve the problem of infusing magical items with Second Order power. That problem was not perfectly solved until the Year of Moonfall (Chaos 471), by a genius.
That genius was Tumen, the Emperor of Elements.
The Saint Rune Engraving Technique invented by Tumen completely solved the problem of infusing items with Second Order power. Only after that did it become possible to create magical items above the 40 Oz power level.
Brando did not doubt that the mysterious pattern on the back of the card in his hand was the sealing Saint Rune. However, he had never seen such a complicated Saint Rune before. It was neither the Elves' Saint Rune of the Wind Empress nor the Cruzians' Fire God Saint Rune. As for Alanta's Sea King Saint Rune, although he was not familiar with it, it certainly did not look like the one before him.
He stared at the intricate pattern and could not help feeling a headache coming on. The techniques passed down by Tumen had undergone several revolutionary advances over the past thousand years. In theory, modern Saint Runes should no longer have such complicated structures—unless this was an ancient item?
Just as he was wondering about it, the card in his hand suddenly floated up without warning and shot a black pillar of light into the gray sky. Moments later, another pillar of light rose into the sky from the mountains to the southeast.
Resonance!
Brando had no time to react. He could only stare blankly as the scene unfolded. He was about to go insane, because the magical reaction this time was even more intense. The army of Madara more than a dozen miles away had probably been alerted. Only an item from the same set could produce a resonance reaction. Brando had never imagined that the card in his hand was part of a set, much less that another piece of the set was responding to it in Xavier Mountain Pass.
And, by some terrible coincidence, the two items were within resonance range.
"Brando?"
"Brando, what happened?" Roman and Freya spoke at the same time. This time, even an idiot could tell that there was definitely something wrong with the card in Brando's hand.
"I'll explain later. Are you armored?" Brando took one last look at the valley below and asked in an urgent tone.
Freya nodded.
The intense magical reaction had already drawn the shadows of magic servants into the valley. Brando saw several Withered Beast younglings passing through the dried ravine below. He did not dare delay and immediately ordered Roman and Freya to abandon as much of their burdens as possible and travel east along the cliff with light packs.
Rations and water should have been vital supplies, but they could not keep them now. Brando carried only basic equipment and several coils of rope. Each person kept one torch, while all other necessary burdens were discarded. They had to race against time. As they continued forward, more and more Withered Beasts gathered below the valley, as if all of Xavier Mountain Pass were boiling over.
Brando could not help feeling alarmed at the sight below. This really was a monster riot. Fortunately, they were on the cliff, and the first wave of monsters would need at least ten minutes to reach the place where they had camped earlier. Even if a few Withered Beasts spotted them below, their numbers were not enough to pose a threat.
What Brando truly feared was that the sudden change would alter the route of the Treant patrols on the eastern cliff. Thus, he had to reach the middle of the canyon before those offspring of the Golden Demon Tree arrived there for the first time.
Only there would he have a chance to kill the first patrol.
He knew that this patrol should have just passed the riverbank. Even if it immediately turned back, it would still take two hours to reach the middle of the canyon. He had come to this dungeon countless times to farm the Golden Tree Heart, and every detail was etched into his memory. His only concern was that reality might differ from the game.
Fortunately, when they arrived, they were neither early nor late, but exactly one step ahead. The three of them saw a group of monsters covered in woven vines rushing over from the east on the ridge. Both sides spotted each other at almost the same time. Treants stood about one and a half people tall, their bodies wrapped in vines resembling aerial roots. They had no eyes, but the membranous organs at their limb joints allowed them to catch every detail of sound.
They were also divided into adult and juvenile forms. Adult Treants had high Agility, could charge through the valley as if it were flat ground, and were skilled climbers. They were the greatest threat in Brando's mind. However, only one of the ten Treants in this group was an adult, which matched his memories.
"Get to the mountaintop before them." Brando watched the Treants draw closer, his palms sweating. There was a huge boulder at the summit. In the game, explosives could be used to loosen it and send it rolling down, killing the patrolling Treants while blocking the valley. Brando naturally had no explosives now, and he could not find any at such short notice. But he had the Wind Queen Ring. That thing was far more powerful than explosives.
He glanced at the small platform at the summit and could not help exhaling. In the past, he could have easily reached it ahead of the adult Treant by himself. But now, because of the Paralysis Toxin, his Agility had fallen by 0.3 Energy Levels. He could only rely on Freya and Roman.
The two girls did not understand what Brando was thinking, but they nodded with effort. It was a critical moment. Although Brando had not explained anything, his tense expression made it clear that the monsters ahead were not to be trifled with.
Both sides were racing against time. Freya and Brando were doing somewhat better, but Roman, whose physique was slightly weaker, had gone pale and was practically gasping for breath. Fortunately, thanks to their advantage in time, they still reached the summit first.
But they were only one step ahead.
Brando and Freya had just climbed up when the adult Treant appeared. A Level 22 monster. Brando could calculate with his toes that their odds of victory were zero. But even if the odds were negative, they still had to fight. They could not simply wait for death, could they?
Brando immediately threw the Wind Queen Ring to Freya and shouted, "Attack the point where the rock is connected and knock it down. The command is Oss. Understood?"
Freya caught the ring instinctively and froze for a moment. "Brando?"
"Put it on your index finger. I'll hold this monster back. Hurry." Brando had originally intended to send Roman, which would at least free up another person to cover him. But when he turned around, he saw that the Merchant's Daughter was still far behind.
This is what happens when you slack off all the time. He could not help shaking his head.
Turning back, Brando drew a deep breath, his entire body tensing from nervousness. He had appeared calm in front of Freya, but that did not mean he was not afraid at all. Treants were not Withered Beasts. They possessed stable First Order power. After losing the Wind Queen Ring, it was difficult for him to believe he could contend with one.
4.5 Energy Levels of power, 6 Energy Levels of Physique, 2 Energy Levels of Agility. Extremely high Defense and Resilience. Its bark contained corrosive toxins. It excelled at ranged attacks and possessed binding abilities. Weak to fire and slashing. Brando steadied his mind and recalled the opponent's Attributes. Based on these figures alone, this adult Treant did not seem much different from an Elite Withered Beast. But he knew that the difference between the two in battle was like heaven and earth.
Brando had only just thought of this when the vines on the Treant's body seemed to come alive. Countless strands shot toward him at once. He hurriedly rolled aside in fright. The vines that had looked soft and limp earlier now resembled steel cables. With a sharp hiss, they stabbed straight into the rock. The surface immediately began to sizzle and emit white smoke.
Corrosiveness. This was the most terrifying aspect of Treants. Ordinary swords and blades could not harm them in the slightest and would instead be damaged by their corrosive bark.
The Treant knew from the sound that it had missed. It immediately swung its vines to the side, and another vine whip swept toward Brando. He cursed inwardly but could only continue rolling away like a lazy donkey. The "steel cable" swept across the ground, sending shattered rocks flying.
The flying Stone Fragment struck Brando at the corner of his brow, opening a gash that sent blood streaming down his forehead. But he did not dare make a sound of pain. Gripping the Gleaming Thorn, he lunged forward during the gap in the opponent's attack.
But at that very moment, he froze.
A line of ghostly green text appeared across his retina—
"Summon the Saint Sword?"
Before you continue